A day after former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh claimed that Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had asked controversial cop Sachin Vaze to extort Rs 100 crore every month, the Delhi residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar saw a flurry of activities.
The first to register his attendance at Pawar›s residence was Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who had to cut short his Mumbai trip and land in Delhi to deliberate over the Maharashtra crisis.
Minutes later, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and cabinet minister Jayant Patil also met Sharad Pawar to discuss the same political storm, which was kicked off after the startling letter sent by Param Bir Singh.
Terming the allegations against Deshmukh as serious in nature, Pawar left Deshmukh›s fate in the hands of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray. Addressing mediapersons at his Delhi residence, Pawar said that it is the prerogative of the Chief Minister to take a call on Deshmukh›s fate in the cabinet.
Questioning the timing of the ‘Rs 100 crore extortion racket’ allegations levelled by Singh against the NCP minister, Pawar also asked for an inquiry under the supervision of former supercop Julio Ribeiro.
“Neither the CM, nor Deshmukh reinstated Vaze. It was Param Bir Singh who got him back. This calls for an impartial enquiry,” Pawar added.
On the other hand, the Congress chose to remain a mute spectator of the turmoil in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that Pawar had already spoken on the matter and party general secretary H.K. Patil was the right man to go to for the official position of the Congress party. “Mr Pawar himself said that he will speak on the issue tomorrow in detail, so I don›t think I have to say anything which is outside my domain,” Singhvi held.
Highly placed sources also told The Sunday Guardian that the state leadership is completely clueless as to how to respond to the existing crisis since the Delhi leadership is busy with elections and no instructions have come from them.
“The party is giving an impression of being totally inactive in Maharashtra, at least. A CLP meet should be called to discuss the issue. The crisis is serious and if the issue is not resolved timely, it might bring the government down,” the source divulged.
Meanwhile, sharpening its attack, the BJP described Pawar’s press briefing as a ‘damage control exercise.’ In a conversation The Sunday Guardian, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe asked why Uddhav Thackeray or Anil Deshmukh didn’t intervene when Vaze was being reinstated, and why Pawar was putting the onus on Param Bir Singh now. “Anil Deshmukh has to go… Uddhav has no clue what is happening right under his nose. This shows his incompetence,” Sahasrabuddhe quipped.
Maharashtra’s Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis in a press conference at Nagpur said that Pawar created this government so he is defending them. He added that Sachin Vaze was brought back in service on orders of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister only. “Before Singh, Maharashtra DG Subodh Jaiswal had submitted a report to Uddhav Thackeray regarding corruption over police transfers but he didn’t act on it. Hence, Jaiswal had to resign from his post,” he said.
The BJP is also holding a protest against Anil Deshmukh across the state.